Air deflecting vanes for steering air propelled vehicles



Nov. 24, 1959 s. BIZJAK 2,914,013

AI R DEFLECTING VANES FOR STEERING AIR PROPELLED VEHICLES Fil ed Oct. 2. 1956 [i g 3 INVENTOR. STANLEY BIZJAK BY PA RKER 61 CARTER ATTORNEYS United StatesPatentO My invention relates to improvements in air deflecting vanes especially adaptedffor steering air propelled vehicles or the like. a

It is manifestto anyone familiar withpropeller driven sleds, skifis or other vehicles used on'ice, snow, water or land, that motor driven propellers are employed to provide the motive power for the vehicle, and that rudders or other types of steering mechanisms form. a part of the assembly to direct or guide'its course while it is being propelled.

The prime object of my invention is to providean especially simple, ec onomical and efficient form of pivoted vane for varying the direction" of theair current produced by the revolving propeller, thereby guiding or steering the-vehicle while it, is being propelled by air.

Another object of my inventionis to provide a novel form of a vane which is hingedly supported on the guard forming the protective means or enclosure for the air propeller; p p I A further object of my inventionis to provide a vane which may be pivotally moved'by'a flexible cable from a remote control. i Y

A still further objectof my invention is to provide a device of the character described, that may be used selectively in conjunction with a horizontally swingable motor and propeller, for effecting adeflection or complete reversal of the propelling air current whendesired.

Other and further objects of my invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a face view of a propeller guard, showing a portion of the vane mounted in cross section, and illustrating the manner in which it is pivotally mounted on one of the guard rods;

Figure 2 is a top view in part section of the vane mounted on a propeller guard, and showing the propeller in phantom;

Figure 3 is a side view of the vane and hinge structure shown in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a detail view of the vane, looking toward the rear;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the vane and hinge structure mounted on a portion of a vertical cross bar of the guard, and showing the manner in which the adjustable control wire and its sheath are supported on a horizontal cross bar; 7

Figure 6 is a detail perspective view of the control knob attached to the opposite end of the control wire and illustrating the manner in which the tubular sheath for the wire is supported on the vehicle;

Figure 7 is a vertical cross section of the supporting link which supports the control wire sheath on the cross member; and

Figure 8 is a schematic top view showing the invention as applied to a skiff having a power actuated air propeller encased within a protective guard, and illustrating the manner in which the steering vane, which is pivotally members 19 and 19 respectively.

mounted on the guard may be moved by remote control from the front of the skiff.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and referring now to the same,'the character 10 indicates an air propeller, in phantom, which may be of any conventional design and have any number of blades. The propeller 10 is shown encased within a guard 11, which may be of conventional wire cage constructionforming an enclosure to prevent contact with the revolving blades of the propeller, yet providing sufiicient opening between the wires to permit free circulation of the air through the guard. The construction of the guard shown in the various views includes a vertical rod or bar,12 or wire attached at 13 and 13 to a circular member 17. The rod 12 is supported by other cross members such as vertical members 14 and 15,and a horizontal member 16, all of which are suitably attached at their extreme ends to the circular member 17. ,The several members 12, 14, 15 and 16 are bent near their outer ends to space them rearwardly from, the circular member 17, and away from the propeller ,10.

The rod 12 acts as a hinge support for the front end' of a steering vane 18. This vane may be constructed of sheet material such as metal or the like, with a pair of which extension member forms a control lever for the vane, with an aperture 22 at its forward end. The vane also has an elongated slot 23 disposed adjacent the extension and in horizontalalignment with the member 21, through which slot'the cross member 16 extends.

The members 19 and 19' may be formed integrally with'the vane18, and encircle the rod 12, which passes through the hinge openings or eyes 24-and 24' in the A conventional flexible sheath 25 has afiexible control wire26 slidable therein and having one end projecting from the sheath, and passing through the aperture 22 in the lever member 21, of the vane and fastened tothe latter as by nuts 27. The adjacent endof the flexible sheath 25 passes through a pair of supporting brackets 28, 28 and is adjustably secured therein by a setscrew 29. The supporting brackets 28 are fixed on the cross bar 16 by setscrews 29'.

The other end of the sheath 25 has the end of the control wire projecting outward therefrom, and the wire has a control knob 30 suitably attached thereto. This end of the sheath 25 may pass through a mounting bracket 31, and is retained therein by a screw 32 or in any other convenient manner. Obviously the bracket 31 may be of any shape or design and may be provided with apertures 33 for fastening it to any portion of the skiff or vehicle, such as shown at 34 in Figure 8. The operator may thus control the operation of the vane from the front seat 36 of the skiff with the control knob 30 placed in any desired or conventional location adjacent said front seat.

In operation, it will be apparent that manual movement of the knob 30 in the desired direction, will move the flexible wire 26 slidably within the sheath 25, thereby pivotally forcing the lever member 21 to one side or the other so as to cause the vane 18 to move in the desired direction, as indicated, for instance, by the dotted lines in Figure 2. When the vane is swung toward the right side of the skiff, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 8, the air current from the propeller will contact the near or right side of the vane 18, causing the skifi to be steered toward the left, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 8. The greater the angle of deflection of the vane, the greater will be the turning efiect thereof.

It will be further understood that the motor 35, to-

gether with the propeller and its guard 11, may be mounted for bodily horizontal swinging movement about a pivot 37 and controlled manually, as by a handle 38, independently of the vane control means previously described. Such pivotal movement of the motor andpropeller may be useful for effecting a sharp turn of the skiff, or for temporarily reversing its direction, when desired. In such case, the flexible sheath 25 and wire 26 will bemade of sufficient length to permit such horizontal swinging movement of the motor and propeller in each direction. The motor and propeller may, however, be also provided with conventional means (not shown) for locking them against horizontal swinging movement in their straight-ahead position. Thus steering can be effected selectively, either by the vane 18 01" the handle 38.

Moreover, if the motor and propeller are free for horizontal swinging movement, the motor andpropeller can be swung for steering in either: direction without any manual control by handle 38, but solely by manipulating the vane 18 from the front seat so as to effect a quick turn, or to effect a reversal of the direction of the propelling air current, when desired. The vane 18, when swung to the right, as shown in dotted outline in, Figure 8, may cause rotation of the motor in the opposite direction, and thus cause turning of the vehicle as shown in dotted outline in Figure 8.

Although I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a propelling and steering assembly for air.

propelled vehicles, an air propelled vehicle, a motor and propeller unit mounted on said vehicle for propulsion thereof, a steering vane swingably mounted on said motor and propelling unit and in the stream of air from saidv propeller, and a flexible cable attached to said vane and leading to an operator position in said vehicle, said cable having an actuating end portion adapted-for movement and adapted during such movement to pivotally move said vane, movement of said vane being effective to cause swinging movement of said motor and propeller unit.

2 In a steering device for air propelled vehicles having a; motor, a vehicle having a motor and a propeller driven thereby to thereby propel said vehicle, a guard for said propeller including a vertically disposed bar mounted centr-ally and rearwardly of said propeller, said guard including a second bar extending transversely of the vertical bar, an air vane pivotally mounted along its front edge on said vertically disposed bar, remote control means for said vane comprising a flexible control wire and sheath having one end of the wire fixed to said vane in off-set relation toits pivotal axis adjacent the pivot of said bar and vane, said vane having a forwardly projecting extension centrally of its pivoted edge to which the control wire is fastened, said vane also having a slot adjacent said extension to accommodate said second bar, said sheath being fastened to. said second bar along the front thereof, and means connected to the extended opposite end of said wire for manual control thereof.

3. In a steering device for air propelled vehicles having. a motor, a motor mounted on a vehicle for horizontal swinging movement on an upright axis, a propeller driven by the motor to thereby propel said vehicle, a guard for said propeller including a-vertically disposed bar mounted centrally and rearwardly of said propeller, said guard being mounted for horizontal swinging movement relative to, the vehicle with the motor and propeller, an air vane pivotally mounted along its front edge on said bar,

remote controlmeans for said vane comprising a flexible control wire and sheath having one end of the wire fixed to said vane in offset relation to its pivotal axis adjacent the pivot of said bar and vane and means connected to the extended opposite end of said wire for manual control thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent 

